Students Bring Plato’s Cave to Life Through Hands-On Philosophy Project
To better understand the abstract ideas in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” upper school classical philosophy students recently designed and presented dioramas. The project-based lesson followed several days of preparation in which students read and discussed the allegory, mapped its sequence of events, and examined its philosophical themes. They also viewed a narrated version of the story to support their close reading before beginning work on their models.
“I really didn't want students just flipping through the pages without the material leaving any kind of impression,” said English teacher Daniel Block. “Dioramas gave the class a tactile, hands-on vehicle for making big ideas concrete and specific and really getting into the details of how Plato envisions the philosopher's journey from ignorance to knowledge.”
Working in small groups, students constructed key elements of the narrative, which include chained prisoners, shadow displays inside the cave, and the moment a freed prisoner encounters the world outside. More than static representations of the allegory, the elements of the dioramas, such as Lego figures and tea lights, were manipulated by students to illustrate the physical setting while explaining how each scene reflected the literal storyline and Plato’s commentary on the movement from ignorance to knowledge.
“Philosophy is way more complicated than I thought,” said Abby Aguilar ’26. “I really enjoy it because we get to work through these complicated things by making things like a diorama, which helped me to understand the story.”
“I thought it was interesting to physically see what Plato was trying to convey,” said Katie Karpik ’27. “Just imagining oneself unable to move and only see what’s in front of you made me realize that if that’s your life, that’s what you’d believe.”
Block noted that while students collaborated on the construction of the diorama, each presentation was assessed independently, with a focus on clarity of interpretation rather than craftsmanship.
The project served as an entry point into the broader themes students will encounter as the course continues through Plato’s “The Republic.” Having engaged directly with the text in a hands-on way, students are better equipped to follow the philosopher’s arguments and analyze their implications. Block noted that the combination of intellectual rigor and creative engagement supported students’ growing confidence as readers and thinkers, setting the stage for the transition to modern philosophy in the spring.